Best Shots: Final Crisis and a Bunch 'o Avengers

Hi there, Newsarama readers. This is the part of the Best Shots column
where Troy Brownfield usually says a few words, reminds you of the
books we’ve already covered throughout the course of the week and plugs
Shotgunreviews.com and Shots In The Dark.

Well, Troy couldn’t be with us today, as he spent a majority of his
weekend in Chicago. In fact, most of the team decided to spend a
majority of their time in Chicago this weekend for some reason. He
mentioned something about wizards, I think. Whatever that means.

Anyway, here are some comics reviews from those of us on the team who
don’t believe in wizards. We’ll have Richard kick us off with a
spoiler-heavy review of Final Crisis #2, so if you don’t like spoilers you might want to—

Hey, if you don’t want spoilers, maybe you shouldn’t be reading reviews of books you haven’t read yet.

Final Crisis #2

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: JG Jones

From: DC

Review by Richard Renteria

With the second issues of Final Crisis out things begin to
make a little more sense story-wise, as the fiasco of having a series
that contradicts events it was counting down to evaporate. In this
issue Grant Morrison and JG Jones manage to increase the tension for
the characters of the DCU as some of them slowly come to the
realization of a bigger crisis unfolding in the background. Events from
issue one that seemed random begin to foment danger on a celestial
scale as gods take on the form of human and alien alike. Meanwhile a
lone individual with knowledge of a war that evil won begins to
assemble others in an attempt to fight back.

Sonny Sumo just wants to have a drink, unfortunately for him there is
always someone wanting to make a name for themselves; in this instance
Megayakuza, a hero of the armored variety. Unfortunately for
Megayakuza, he gets his heart broken (or in this case ripped out of his
chest) by Sonny Sumo, after much warning. While recovering from the
incident Sonny is approached by Mister Miracle, who explains to Sonny
that he is on a quest to assemble a group of individuals to stop evil’s
ascent after a war in which evil has won. (It really should be noted
that throughout the course of this scene, Morrsion does a masterful job
of building up the Japanese hero culture, which seems to be sorely
lacking in true heroes at this point.)

After Japan, Morrison gives the reader a quick succession of snippets
to catch them up on the other key players. First we pay a quick visit
upon the now disgraced Nix Uotan, the former monitor of Earth-51, who
in his human shackles is working at a fast food restaurant trying to
remember a magic word of some importance, although he’s not quite sure
why.

Next we find Inspector Turpin continuing his search for the missing
children, which you may recall he found last issue. Something is very
wrong with Turpin and it starts to really show on his face (through
this two-page sequence you may notice that Jones seems to cleverly
foreshadows Turpin’s future).

Meanwhile on Mars, the heroes pay tribute to their fallen comrade.

With the death of the Martian Manhunter still fresh on their minds,
Libra and some of the other villains revel in their moment, while
others begin to formulate contingency plans against Libra’s power move.
Lest we forget, The Human Flame received his boon, now it’s time for
him to pay; could the marquee on the theatre be a clue to just want the
Human Flame has given up in exchange for the death of J’onn J’onnz? We
are left to ponder the fate of the “dreaded” Human Flame as we make our
way back to an investigation of celestial import.

As the Justice League continues their investigation of Orion’s death
they make an interesting discovery. Apparently, it seems our god Orion
was killed with a bullet, one that left no entry or exit wound. Enter
Alpha Lantern Kraken who is investigating Orion’s death for the
Guardians. Upon learning that Batman sent John Stewart to investigate
the crime scene for a bullet, Kraken makes a dramatic exit after
insulting earth’s heroes multiple times.

As John Stewart continues his crime scene investigation, he is brutally
attacked by another lantern. Shortly after Stewart’s attack, Hal Jordan
is arrested for not only his attempted murder of Stewart but also the
death of Orion. After Jordan’s arrest, Batman and Alpha Lantern Kraken
continue to examine the body of Orion, when Kraken has a Sybil moment
and reveals a duplicity that gives Batman pause. As Batman tries to
decipher what just happened he is attacked by Kraken who quickly
subdues him and immediately sends him via Boom Tube to the deadly hands
of a waiting Granny.

In Bludhaven, Turpin meets Reverend Good, who is less than surprised to
see him. Not only is there a lack of surprise, it seems he personally
knows the detective. As Reverend Good reveals his true intentions in
Bludhaven, Turpin continues to be puzzled by the events swirling around
him. Suddenly, we see Turpin’s destiny (host to the father of Kalibak:
wonder who that could be?), as a captured Batman implores him to seek
help.

Meanwhile, Clark Kent feels a cold chill moments before Clayface
(disguised as Jimmy Olsen detonates a bomb that takes out the top
levels of The Daily Planet, leaving Lois Lane a potential casualty.

Finally, we pay a quick visit to Jay Garrick (the first Flash) and
Wally West (the current Flash) as they continue to investigate J’onn’s
death, unaware of the events that have already been set in motion.
While they search for clues at the abandoned theatre they stumble upon
Metron’s chair which suddenly springs to life and they bear witness to
a very much alive Barry “I died in the first Crisis” Allen, seemingly trying to out run the Black Racer, with a warning yelled from his lips, “RUN!”

There is a lot happening in this issue, yet to Morrison’s credit it
never seems to get bogged down by a lack of action or needless
exposition. Everything that is shown on the page is important to the
story and no storytelling shortcuts are employed. Morrison manages to
incorporate characters effortlessly into the story and does a good job
of expanding on moments from the first issue. There are some minor
problems with certain characters’ dialog but it hardly seems worth
mentioning when taken as a whole. Morrison’s script is tightly focused
and nothing seems random as the story seems to unfold in a rapidly
cascading chain of events that take place after J’onn’s funeral.

J.G. Jones’ art is phenomenal, managing to be both organic and
powerful. Jones is really using all of his talents to convey the
immensity of the unfolding story as it takes place on a small scale, on
earth. Every page turned adds another level of tension to the story as
Jones uses his evocative art to relay a range of emotions and
characteristics.

In addition to being an important tool for relaying the story that
Morrison is telling, Jones is also deftly employing subtle hints at
things to come for some of the characters. I’m not sure if this was a
purposeful direction from the script or just Jones interpretation but
it is a clever trick that was employed effectively in issue one and is
maintained in this issue. With Alex Sinclair utilizing a natural color
palette to highlight his art, Jones continues to up the bar for artists
who utilize a photorealistic style.

It is starting to become clear how the larger story affects the DCU, but because there is a lack of any real tie-ins, only in Final Crisis
does the threat feel real, which I find to be quite distracting. DC is
trying very hard to maintain a focused story, but by minimizing the
impact the story has on the larger DCU the danger in Final Crises feels somewhat muted.

Having said that, if read as a standalone story, Final Crisis
is an interesting read with a lot of ideas and concepts thrown at the
reader to keep them guessing while being backed up by some of the best
art produced in comics today.

Mighty Avengers #15

Wtiter: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Khoi Pham

From: Marvel

Review by Brian Andersen

Hank Pym can never catch a break. Even when he’s being replaced by a
Skrull he comes off scummy, shallow and utterly jerky. But oh boy did
this issue have more nudity than you can shake a wang at! I must say I
was slightly put off by the way Hank’s blonde tryst-ee went all Skrully
on his ass and suddenly lost all her genitalia. Or at least lost her
boobs—maybe she still kept her lady region (it wasn’t clear). Either
way, uh, Ew! Couldn’t the gal Skrull have gotten all hulked out and
still maintained her womanly features?

The woman-to-man-while-still-being-a-woman scene was a tad off-putting, but aside from this Crying Game moment this issue wasn’t as engrossing or as exciting as its sister title New Avengers
(perhaps because Hank P has always been a rather unlikable character).
Any dirty deeds done by Pym or Skrull-Pym just seem the norm for him
now. I was quite surprised to see the appearance of a drunken, sluttily
dressed Wasp slurring her way through their apartment after a night on
the town with fashion designer Tom Ford. Since when has the Wasp been
such a malcontent floozy? She always seemed more level-headed and
together than that.

Also, I wasn’t a big fan of the ending. It seemed to stop suddenly and
left too many questions unanswered, like, what does the increase in
powers the evil Skrull Pym gave to the Wasp mean? Do they end up
replacing her? If this issue focused on Hank’s Skrull conversion and
his dealings with his on-again-of-again wife I would have liked to have
had some closure. I will say though that Brian Michael Bendis is
possibly the only writer in comics who can make an issue with little to
no action still highly gripping and exciting. Is there nothing the man
can’t write?!

Ms. Marvel #28

Writer: Brian Reed

Artists: Adriana Melo and Mariah Benes

From: Marvel

Review by Brian Andersen

I’ll start with the nice thing first: the art by mega-talented Adriana
Melo is comic book superhero art at its best! Melo is able to make Ms.
Marvel super sexy and beautiful while also amplifying the butt-kicking
action and toughness we expect from a superhero. So three cheers and
much props to Melo!

Sadly, the rest of the issue didn’t quite match up to the art. Since
when can Ms. Marvel take on all the powers of pretty much every hero
ever created in the Marvel U? Either these Skrulls are horrible,
terrible, awful fighters (which really makes no sense seeing a how
they’re supposed to be key warriors in their Invasion plan of earth) or
Ms. Marvel is being written all wrong. I would have to side with the
writing on this one. I am all for ass-kicking characters, but this
issue was above and beyond the ass-kicking prowess expected from the
character.

She ain’t The Uncanny, Fantastic, Mighty, Amazing, Spectacular Ms.
Marvel. So why can she so easily defeat these
multi-Marveled-super-powered Skrulls? On any given day the heroes
banding together could handily take out any solo single Marvel hero, so
it just doesn’t stand to reason that the divine Ms. M can take all
these Skrulls.

And the part where she takes the Skrull into space and watches him die,
uh, hello, how come he dies and she doesn’t? Did I miss something or
can Ms. M now breathe in outer space? My guess is that she just held
her breath? If so, how come an actual alien from outer space, who has
like 10 additional superpowers, can’t hold his breath longer than she
can? Makes no sense. I am willing to suspend my disbelief when reading
comics, but sometimes, somethings are just too much for even my nerd
mind to accept. All in all, this over-the-top, wannabe bad-ass issue
makes no sense. Awesome art though!

New Avengers #42

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artists: Jim Cheung and John Dell

From: Marvel

Review by Brian Andersen

To paraphrase Austin Powers: “She’s a Skrull, baby, yeah!”

Wowie zowie, what a loaded issue! Them Skrulls really are all over the Marvel U! Sheesh!

SPOILER ALERT! It appears the little green invading aliens are
behind pretty much all the major Marvel shake-ups over the last few
years, from M-Day to the civil war! Heck they mistakenly reunited the
freakin’ Avengers. Just how the Skrulls managed to work it all out
isn’t completely clear, a lot of backstory still needs filling in and
there are mucho questions and mysteries that need to be addressed.

Which, in essence, is the beauty behind this whole spectacularly great
Marvel event. All the uncertainty, all the anticipation, all the back
and forth on who is and who isn’t a Skrull is deeply engrossing.
Thankfully we have writer Brian Michael Bendis on the case, as this
issue is as riveting and exciting as any summer popcorn flick! It’s
been a long time since I’ve been this interested and, quiet frankly,
excited by a comic book series, and Secret Invasion still has plenty of
story left ahead before it’s even done.

The best part of this issue is reading from the perspective of the current Spider-Woman, who —SPOILER ALERT STILL IN EFFECT!—is the dastardly queen Skrull! Every plot piece since Bendis’ very first issue on New Avengers up until now are all covered and explored.

I must say that when the original Spider-Woman first made her
triumphant (and much deserved) return to the Marvel limelight I was
super crazy stoked. I loves me some Spider-Woman and even though, like
most Marvel heroines, she’s based off a pre-existing male hero (blah!),
Spider-Woman has always been unique. Unlike She-Hulk (who I also adore)
and Ms. Marvel (who I have a love/hate relationship with right now),
Spider-Woman’s origin has nothing to do with her male same-named
counterpart.

She’s been a spy, a detective, a member of S.H.I.E.L.D, a friend to the
X-Men, an Avenger, she’s just so many awesome things I can’t even begin
to list them all; except that her pit-webs actually enable her to fly,
unlike Spider-Man’s boring old underarm webs which do nothing.

I am so hoping that with the cliffhanger ending of this
issue—the world going into M-Day—that somehow the real Spider-Woman was
able to lay the smack down on this vile masquerading queen usurping her
face. Wouldn’t it be an amazing twist if the real Spider-Woman somehow
took out the queen during M-Day and is now acting as a quadruple agent?
Hells yeah that would be the bomb! If anyone could do it’d be her! Any
way you shake it, New Avengers and Secret Invasion are rocking my socks off!

She-Hulk #30

Writer: Peter David

Artists: Val Semeiks and Dave Meikis

From: Marvel Comics

Review by Brian Andersen

Hello, sexy time! It’s nice to see a lady hero get some horizontal
action every now and again, and Miss Shulkie is no exception. Why
should the men have all the fun? It’s so very common to see Supes and
Bats and Spidey hitting it in the sheets —when they get down and dirty
no one bats an —so the time is ripe for a lady to bust out and get her
some lovin’ too. Ain’t no reason why a girl can’t get her a little
sumpin’ sumpin’ and still be classy and confident. Shoot, if anyone can
manage to be both a lady on the streets and a freak in the sheets it’s
She-Hulk! Whoot whoot! Work it girl.

I loved that She-Hulk and Hercules are mixing it up again. Remember
waaaay back in her John Byrne series when Shulkie would have all those
crazy erotic dreams about the demi-god? Leave it to the mighty mind of
Peter David to smile back at the past while bringing the character
forward. Also leave it to David to use a seemingly throwaway character
like She-Hulk’s jail buddy Monique and make her suddenly, and
shockingly, into a key future player in the book.

(Oh, and P.S.—How funny was it when Monique grabbed She-Hulk’s butt as
they headed out of their cell, her explanation being “I figger how many
opportunities will I have?” Ha ha! Hilarious! As was the end of this
issue when Shulkie tosses Herc to the curb—with one bootie and his
tunic barely covering his godhood—so that she could help out her
Skrully buddy Jazinda. Chicks before d**ks afterall!)

It’s sad that this superb title is always lurking in the lower rungs on
the monthly comic book sales list. She-Hulk is consistency excellent
month after month. The art might be touch and go, although Val Semeiks
seems to be hitting his stride with this issue (which sucks for him not
that a new art team is just around the bend), but the stories are
always gripping, filled with rich drama and more laughs in a single
panel than your average top ten selling book. So why aren’t more people
picking up this awesome title? Where is the She-Hulk love folks? Just
because the comic features a strong, sexy, powerful female does that
mean all the male comic book peeps stay away? Does She-Hulk have to
parade around in a thong and pasties to sell issues? What will it take
for people to wake up and support such a terrific comic?

It will be a damn shame if this book gets canceled (again, for a third
time!), there are only so many chances a gal can be given to prove her
sale-worthy-ness before she never gets a shot again! So c’mon my fellow
comic readers, let’s band together and show Marvel, and She-Hulk, that
we care. A book this awesome should not go to waste! So get it
together! Beware if you don’t starting her book, ‘cause you know she
has a tendency to rip up X-Men comics.

Superior Showcase #3

Writers/artists: Jim Rugg, Brian Maruca, Laura Park and Dustin Harbin

From: AdHouse Books

Review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

AdHouse produced a trio of beautifully-designed anthology series
stuffed from cover to cover with genre comics from art-comics creators
not used to working in such genres. There was Project: Telstar, which dealt with robots and sci-fi, Project: Romantic, which dealt with romance comics, and Project: Superior, a superhero anthology.

It’s that last one that spawned an occasionally published ongoing, a
comic book-format anthology featuring three short stories about
superheroes in each issue.

This third issue features a laid-back, somewhat downbeat story by Laura
Park about a brother and sister who don’t actually seem to be
superheroes in any demonstrative sense, but are both teased as “freaks”
and have wells of something special inside them. It’s quite touching,
and, in a credit to how much Park gets done with so little actual
space, it manages to seem much longer than it really is.

Dustin Harbin’s story features “Kid Medulla,” a grade-schooler with
mental powers he can use to read minds and control others’ behavior.
Powers he uses mostly to generate loud and embarrassing flatulence in
his enemies.

Both are great little stories, but the reason to pick this issue up is
undoubtedly the triumphant return of Street Angel, the greatest female
superheroine since Wonder Woman.

Rugg and Maruca’s homeless teenage skater/ninja-slayer has just left a
J-horror movie with her friend Bald Eagle when she’s struck by an
ambulance and finds herself in the hospital. A ninja
hospital. A ninja hospital in which a J-horror-like monster girl sneaks
around the ventilation system eating all the patients. Our heroine—SPOILER ALERT!—totally beats the thing up and makes it explode.

If you like superheroes and solid cartooning, you’ll like Superior Showcase. And if you like superheroes, solid cartooning and the eternal struggle between skateboarding street kids and ninjas, you’ll love this particular issue.

What If This Was The Fantastic Four?: A Tribute to Mike Wieringo

Writer: Jeff Parker, Various

Artists, Mike Wieringo, Various

From: Marvel/The Hero Initiative

Review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

This is an awfully hard book to review for the obvious reasons, so
perhaps I should just start with a “What If?” of my own. What if Mike
Wieringo’s fans, friends, family and industry didn’t lose him way too
soon, and this book went ahead as planned?

Well, then we would have probably had the most accessible and fun of the last round of Marvel What If? books (the ones set up by The Watcher), this one created by the Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four creative team of writer Jeff Parker and artist Mike Wieringo.

Using the Fantastic Four #347-#349 storyline in which
Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, (Gray) Hulk and spandex-less Wolverine
temporarily filled in for the Four as a starting point, this story asks
what if the FF had died, and the stars of “The World’s Most
Commercialest Comic Magazine!” stuck around permanent-like?

Well, it would have been awesome. Spidey would have figured out the
unstable molecule machine and made them matching uniforms, Ghost Rider
would have vomited a flaming “4” signal into the skies of New York when
trouble arose, they would have fought the Super-Skrull, Dr. Doom,
Mephisto and a Satanic version of the Frightful Four featuring Venom,
The Abomination, Sabretooth and Sandman and, I have a feeling, sales of
the FF monthly would have been a lot, lot higher.

Of course, we did lose Wieringo way too early, and while
Parker’s jokes are still funny, only seven pages of the art were
completed by Wieringo, and it’s impossible to get too swept up in the
fun of the story without thinking about how you’re not going to be
seeing any more Wieringo stories (At least for me, as someone whose
sole experience with Wieringo is loving his art; the experience for
those that actually knew him is probably going to be a lot different).

In a fitting tribute, the story is finished up by a cadre of the late
artist’s friends and fans: Pencilers include Art Adams, Stuart Immonen,
Cully Hamner, Alan Davis, Humberto Ramos, Barry Kitson, Mike Allred and
others, while the majority of the inking is done by Karl Kesel.

The book also includes a one-page “Mini Marvels” strip featuring this FF and some of Wieringo’s Tellos
characters, and prose remembrances from Parker, Todd Dezago, Chuk
Wojtkiewicz, Scott Hampton, Mark Waid, Richard Case and Wieringo’s
brother Matt Wieringo.

There are a lot of reasons to buy this issue, from the fact that it
supports a good cause to the fact that it gathers so many great artists
between its covers, but perhaps the most unusual aspect is that it
really is the comic book equivalent of a wake— mourning the person who
was lost, while at the same time celebrating his life in an event that
is of course sad, but also a bit fun and certainly cathartic.

Green Lantern #32

Writer: Geoff Johns

Artists: Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert and Julio Ferreira

From: DC

Review by Lan Pitts

First off, let me just say I am a huge Green Lantern fan
and have been enjoying the revamp since its 2005 debut. Now while it
did annoy me a little bit that Kyle was so easily replaced, I have
never even considered dropping this series, and it's because of issues
like this.

It's written by Geoff Johns and he continues his streak of fantastic GL stories that I have enjoyed so much; he's slowly replacing Ron Marz as my favorite GL scribe.

Pencilled by the out-of-this-world talented Ivan Reis, Hal and company
are just brilliant looking, though Reis is supported by an outstanding
crew. Oclair Albert has provided the inks throughout Reis' run as
penciller. Though Julio Ferreira gives support in this issue, Albert
has always brought an extraordinary level of depth to the page and
gives highlights to Reis' strengths. On top of that, with Guy and Randy
Major on board, Johns and Reis really get two of the best colorists
around.

In this issue, Hal and Sinestro have their first confrontation...not
really as one another’s arch-nemesis, but more like co-workers who butt
heads.

Sinestro calls himself the "greatest,” and in this issue there is a
Jedi-like moment that had me in awe of the power one can do with a
Power Ring, if their will is strong enough. Hector Hammond even gets an
origin overhaul. Needless to say, this is far from Emerald Dawn.

If I have any criticism, it's of the fact that it feels a tad rushed.
Though the retelling of Hal's origin is much needed (mainly to catch up
new readers in preparation for "Blackest Night", and, I assume, because
since this is “New Earth,” which presents the opportunity to retell
it), I wonder how long Johns is planning on keeping this up—both the
origin and his run on the series.

I was hoping we would get some news from Wizard World Chicago, but
understandably, Johns went to honor his friend Michael Turner, who died
late Friday and the Green Lantern panel was canceled.

I personally would love to see Reis on the book for a while, though I could only imagine his style on books like Justice League of America. Green Lantern is one of the best
books being put out there right now. I strongly recommend picking up
this issue. Next issue, it's Hal's and Sinestro's first...team up. This
series looks and reads better and better with each month.

PELLET REVIEWS!

Wolverine First Class #4 (Marvel; by Caleb) The outside has a
cover featuring Wolverine wielding a freaking battle axe, as drawn by
Alan Davis. So this comic pretty much reviews itself, doesn’t it?
Inside, writer Fred Van Lente and artist Salva Espin finish off their
two-parter in which the Wolvie/Kitty Pryde team get embroiled in a
power struggle in the High Evolutionary’s Wundagore Mountains. The
struggle is made more difficult for the pair by various changes they’ve
gone through—Wolvie’s been divested of his bestial nature (he’s more
prone to choose flight over fight now), and Kitty’s been turned into an
actual kitty. It’s every bit as fun and funny as the last three issue,
and proof positive that the world really did need another Wolverine
comic after all.

Justice League International Vol. 1 (DC; by Michael C. Lorah): I’d say that it’s amazing how well these stories hold up, but truth be told, I reread my JLI
comics every two or three years and am well aware of how well the
stories here work, twenty years later. Sometimes derided as the “funny”
Justice League, the humor flows naturally from the characters, drawing
you right into the banter, and the adventure and intrigue remain fun
and engaging due to the reader’s connection to the characters. The new
hardcover edition looks great, with cleaned-up coloring and nice
production. Although I still argue that if I’m willing to pay for a
hardcover, I’m willing to pay for a sewn spine. The glue binding seeped
between a few pages, making them difficult to open. Just a quibble with
an otherwise excellent package.

The Hill (Markosia; by Mike): For fans of snappy one-liners and relentless action, The Hill
should be a fun ride, but it’s one that unfortunately has little going
for it beyond those surface elements. Government assassin Jill and
genetically engineering monster Jack are products of The Hill, though
the nursery rhyme connection doesn’t go much deeper than that (Jack can
only be killed by a head shot, which is about as far as the connections
go). Although Jack shows a compelling emotional range, from confusion
to rage, love to regret, Jill seems capable of only unending bitter
anger—the abuse heaped on Jill by her father, for his scientific
pursuits and government contracts, goes beyond the pale into the realm
of ludicrous. The art is mostly solid, though occasionally cluttered
and one of the action sets was particularly hard to follow (Jill loses
a limb, which I didn’t realize until three pages later).

Vengeance of the Vapor #1-2 (Markosia; by Mike): Another offering from The Hill’s
creative team, this one shows much considerable creative growth: A mix
of western and masked vigilante genres, writer Sal Cipriano and artist
Jok’s series shows some promise. A brother-sister tandem (Kate and
Brooks), searching for their sheriff grandfather, visit a western town
under the thrall of homicidal gold hunters. The dialogue is stiff and
the villains’ treatment of Kate is misogynist in the extreme; however,
Cipriano does tease a question about Brooks’ ultimate loyalty, and even
offers potential nuances to bad guy honcho The Heavy. Jok’s art is
sometimes muddy with too many lines, but his storytelling is mostly
clear and the character designs— though not imaginative—show enough
variety to keep the characters distinct.

Superman #677 (DC; by The Rev. O.J. Flow): While this was not officially the
first time that I've typed "Written by James Robinson" since doing
reviews for Best Shots (that would've been when the writer did the
limited-run crossover in Batman and Detective Comics for
"Face the Face"), it does mark the first time in years that the
talented scribe has been on a regular full-time assignment for DC, and
that's exciting. What is hilarious is that the very first piece of
narration, always one of Robinson's strong suits, is the inner
monologue for—wait for it—Krypto the Super-Dog. And it was still
compelling! Krypto is with our series lead in a light opening sequence
guest-starring Green Lantern Hal Jordan and a rousing game of
intergalactic Frisbee ("Man. Man throw thing."). Though anvil-like in
the more overlying story is Superman's suggestion to Jordan that his
life is complete with Lois in his life and a good dog, so what could
possibly go wrong. It was the only thing less subtle than the
introduction in Metropolis of what apparently is going to go
wrong for the Man of Steel. Atlas, a barely used creation of Jack Kirby
for DC in the early 1970s, at first appears to be a godsend by quickly
yet fatally dispatching a giant monster wrecking the city in Superman's
absence. Turns out he's got, putting it politely, not the best
intentions. Reminiscent of Robinson's tenure of Starman, we are
also introduced to some Science Police officers who have the potential
to be supporting cast staples during this creative run (like the
O'Dares). The art by Renato Guedes and José Wilson Magalháes is without
a doubt gorgeous, and not that this title was sorely lacking prior to
issue #677 by any means, but we may be on the cusp of a epically
memorable run in the series history. "The Coming of Atlas" is certainly
off to a good start for sure.